Are you ready to reduce your dependency on email, lower your stress, stop procrastinating and feel more in control of your life? If so, you need to learn some very specific strategies to deal effectively with this problem.

Decide on an email schedule that makes sense for your business and your lifestyle. Unless you are in customer service or another business in which responding to emails instantly is your job, almost everyone can reduce the frequency of diving into the inbox.

Shut down your email program and all notifications about mail, and only have it open during the allotted times.

Resist opening your email first thing in the morning. Exercise, eat a healthy breakfast, plan out the day ahead, and work on the most important project for that day for at least an hour.

Develop a system to manage emails and keep your inbox relatively free. Train yourself to handle each email only once. Take care of it, delete it, delegate it, or file.

Unsubscribe to all emails that you never get around to reading or you know cause you to waste time. If unsubscribing makes you uncomfortable, remind yourself that you can always resubscribe if you find yourself missing them in the future.

Create a "read later" folder for the newsletters you enjoy and that bring value to your life. Move those emails immediately out of your inbox, and know when you will get to them. Clean that folder out at the end of each week. Take the time to either read or delete those you haven't gotten to.

It took me awhile to wean myself off of constantly checking my emails and to come up with a system that works for me. Truth be told, sometimes I waiver.

But when I do, I quickly notice I am procrastinating getting important stuff done, and my stress level is increasing along with the number of emails sitting in my inbox. So, I go back to basics and follow my system.

Now, I recognize that asking you only to check your email three or four times a day initially could cause you more stress! But, once you break this addictive habit and experience how much more relaxed and accomplished life feels, you'll be so glad you did!